


Spirit of Giving

by anaer



Series: children of the night [2]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Christmas, Humor, M/M, Vampires, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-19
Updated: 2016-12-19
Packaged: 2018-09-09 19:59:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8910001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anaer/pseuds/anaer
Summary: Christmas time in Traverse Town, and Cloud is nowhere to be found.  Sora is great and all, but Leon has had it up to here with dealing with Cloud's vampire child.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I have been on a fic writing binge this holiday season. More Christmas fic for the soul!

“So do vampires celebrate Christmas?”  Sora randomly asked one day.  Leon, who was in the middle of reorganizing Rinoa’s potion ingredient shelf for the third time this week (bless her soul, but the witch could not remain organized if the fate of the world depended on it) paused what he was doing to turn and stare at Sora incredulously.

“What?” he asked.  “And stop playing with your fangs before you hurt yourself.”  Sora, floating next to him removed his fingers from his mouth with a nervous giggle.  Leon closed his eyes, took a deep, calming breath, and prayed that the stress of dealing with this newly turned vampire child would soon kill him.

“Do vampires celebrate Christmas?” Sora repeated.

“Why don’t you go ask Cloud?  He’d know better than I would.”  Leon turned back to the shelf.  He pulled a jar of malboro tentacles out from behind the grat spleens, shaking his head.  Seriously, she had no sense of organization. 

“I would,” Sora replied, “except I haven’t seen him in like two weeks.  He told me to come bug you last time I saw him, anyway.”  Leon had no doubt that was a quote.  The damn vampire dropping his little vampire sirelings of on him, Squall Leonhart, who was in no way a vampire.  He was not equipped to deal with this nonsense.  Hell, he couldn’t even relate to Sora’s experience a little, as he had, in fact, never been mortal to begin with.  Not to mention that Sora was a complete handful.  Showing up, interrupting Leon’s carefully allocated and plotted out alone time with inane questions.  Why Rinoa had ever let Sora in the house, he would never know.  Sure, he was kind of adorable, and quirky, and generally easy to get along with, but he was still a vampire.  And Rinoa hated vampires.

Although on second thought, that was probably it.  She was probably doing all this just to spite Cloud, knowing her.  She still hated that Leon was dating him now. 

“Besides, you totally know,” Sora continued.  “You know everything!  I’m gonna be really bummed if I can’t do Christmas.  I promised RIku he could come to my family’s huuuuuge Christmas blowout party.  We do it every year:  it’s so good!  Hey, you should come, too, Leon!”

“I don’t do parties.” 

“Yeah, but it’ll be so much fun.  So many people!  And the food is amazing.  Hey, can you eat food?  Is that a thing you can do?  I know I can, which is weird, because how does digestion work for me? …Although, I guess you were eating at that restaurant that night, huh.”

Leon slammed the bottle of T-Rexaur eyes he was holding onto the table.

“Okay, that’s it!” he exclaimed, turning on a heel and stomping to the door.  “Let’s go.”

Sora floated along behind him, tiny little bat wings beating furiously to keep him astride.  Leon wished he would just walk.  Cloud, at least, had the decency to walk everywhere.  “Where we going?”

“To find Cloud.  Let him take care of you for a bit.  Like he’s supposed to.”  Leon had had enough of this.  It was time for Cloud to clean up his own mess.

“Oh, cool.”

Sora’s main redeeming feature was that he was a pretty agreeable kid.  He rolled with the punches.  Got turned into a vampire? “Oh, cool, I’m immortal!”  Got fired from his job due to Cloud and Sephiroth destroying the restaurant?  “Now I have more time for my friends!”  Best friend stopped talking to him for nearly a month after the whole vampire reveal?  “Well, hey, at least this way I won’t accidentally eat him!”

It was almost as endearing as it was annoying.  But most importantly, it meant that Leon could ditch Sora without it turning into a whole thing.  He wouldn’t feel even a little bit guilty.  Not that he would feel guilty either way, because that would imply he cared about Sora, which obviously, he didn’t. 

Besides, Sora really was Cloud’s responsibility. 

“So, where are we going?” Sora asked after only two minutes of pure, blissful silence. 

“Tifa’s bar,” Leon replied grumpily.  7th Heaven was always the first place to look for Cloud and not just because the bar was a supernatural haven.  If Cloud wasn’t camped out in his room upstairs being bitter at the world or raging about Sephiroth, then at least Tifa would probably have a good idea of where he’d gotten to.  Although this time, it seemed, she didn’t. 

“Cloud?  Huh.  Dunno, haven’t seen him.  He’s probably just off trying to kill Sephiroth again,” the vampiress said breezily, pouring out another drink.  “For only the forty-eighth time this month.  You’d think he’d stop trying, but no.  He’s still bitter about the Aerith thing.  Which is crazy because I understand how upsetting her death was as well as anyone, but let’s be real.  When has being a ghost ever stopped anyone?  Look at Tidus and Yuna over there – he’s dead, and they still make it work.”  Leon didn’t look because he had no desire to witness Yuna trying to make out with Tidus’s incorporeal body.  Again.  It raised too many questions and was just plain gross, besides.  Sora, who was still new to this whole thing, glanced over to where Tifa was pointing.  His eyes went wide.

“Woah!” he squeaked.  “I don’t – I – uh – I think I’m too young to see that!”

“We’re all too young to see that,” Tifa reassured him, reaching across the bar to pat the boy’s head. 

“So you don’t know where Cloud is, then?” Leon cut in, bringing them back on topic. 

“Sorry,” she shrugged.  “Although, you might already know if you got off your butt and asked him out—” And that’s where Leon zoned out.  If Tifa hadn’t realised they were dating yet, that was on her.  The first time they’d fucked had been in Cloud’s bedroom upstairs!  At this point, she was just oblivious.

Sora looked confused, and Leon tried to remember if they’d given him the rundown on the secret.  The betting pool for when Cloud and Leon would start dating was getting obnoxiously high, which in turn only made Cloud want to hide it more.  Leon, tired of this sneaking around nonsense, had offered a cleaner solution.  If Sora spilled the beans now… Well, Rinoa had a bet in the pot for Christmas Day two weeks from now, and was going to split the money with them when she won.  Sora, of course, knew none of this.  The confusion on his face grew the more Tifa prodded, and Leon felt his heart drop as the boy’s mouth opened to speak. 

And that’s when an angel by the name of Yuffie burst in through the door, shrieking. 

(Let it be known that that would be the only time in his entire existence that Squall Leonhart would ever even subconsciously think of Yuffie Kisaragi as an angel again.)

“Squallio!” she yelled, bouncing over to the bar.  The small vampire girl jumped up on the seat next to him.  “How’s my favourite benevolent spirit today?”

“I’m not benevolent,” Leon muttered, taking a defiant sip of drink.  He really needed to do something about his reputation.  You were nice to one person for too long and suddenly you were ‘benevolent’ and no one took you seriously.  He wasn’t malevolent, sure – that was Seifer all the way, and Squall refused to be anything like Seifer – but was it really that hard to just be neutral?

“Yeah, sure, keep saying that.  And Sora!  How’s my favourite baby vamp these days?  Worked things out with Riku yet?”

Sora blinked.  “Uh, yeah, I have, but how do you know about—”

“Don’t ask.  Don’t encourage her.”

“Awww, Squally, don’t be like that!”  Yuffie pouted.  “’Sides, a little birdy told me you’re looking for Cloud.  Given that stalkng him is basically my night job…” she trailed off and waggled her eyebrows. 

Leon sighed.  “Tifa said he’s trying to kill Sephiroth again.”

“Uh, Tifa said ‘probably’,” Tifa interjected.  “I don’t know for sure.”

“Oh, please, that’s soooo last week.”

“And today, and tomorrow, and next week,” Tifa added.

“Wait,” Sora chimed in.  “So.  What’s the deal with Cloud and Sephiroth?  ‘Cause – they’re kind of the reason I died.  So it’d be nice to know.”  Sora wouldn’t have had to die if Cloud’s go to solution for life and death matters wasn’t vampirism.  Healing magic would have worked just fine.  But no.  Vampirism. 

Not that Leon was bitter or anything.

“They hate each other,” Leon answered, explaining everything and nothing at all.

“Well, I got that much, thanks.”  Sarcasm was not a good look on Sora. 

“Well,” Tifa began.  “It all goes back to that time Sephiroth burned down our hometown.  And then killed Zack – we’re still not sure if he turned him purposely or accidentally then.  He might’ve just been trying to eat him.  So, yeah, Sephiroth turned Zack, and then Cloud killed him, kind of, but it didn’t stick.  Sephiroth is notoriously hard to kill.  Sephiroth held a grudge, though, because Cloud was still human at the time.  So, you know, shit happened, Zack turned Cloud, Zack got killed, Cloud turned emo, Sephiroth came back, Cloud tried to kill him again, Sephiroth vowed to make his life miserable, Cloud vowed to kill him, Sephiroth killed Aerith, Cloud tried to kill Seph again, Seph killed you, rinse and repeat.”

“And that one time he tried to kill me,” Leon interjected, an amused grin tugging at his lips at the memory.  Tifa laughed.

“Ah, yes.  And that one time Sephiroth attempted to kill our friend Squall here.”

Sora blinked.  “Uh.”

“It’s a long story,” Yuffie summarized.

“And beside the point,” Leon said.  “Where the hell is Cloud?”

Yuffie leaned back against the bar, folding one leg on top of the other.  “Weeelllll, I could tell you.  But it’s gonna cost.”  She grinned connivingly at him.  Leon scowled.

“How about it costs me not setting you on fire?”  His tone must have been warning enough because Yuffie suddenly backtracked, sitting up straight and nodding enthusiastically. 

“Yeah, that sounds agreeable.  So!  Cloud was last seen hanging out down in the fifth district, see.  Last night and every night so far this week.  Of course, it’s always night here – it’s Traverse Town – but nighttime hours, you know.”

“The fifth district?” Leon raised an eyebrow.  That was gambling central.  What the hell could Cloud possibly be doing in the gambling side of town every single night for a week?  This did not forebode well.  Leon sighed.  If Cloud were picking up a compulsive gambling problem on top of his myriad of other issues, Leon was going to have to stage an intervention.  Some things were just a step too far.

“Yep.  The fifth district.  You could probably find him there now.”

“Please don’t tell me he has a gambling problem now,” Tifa sighed.                                            

“Ah, my thoughts, too.  Thanks, Yuffie,” Leon said, standing up. “Let’s go, Sora.”

It was time to go figure out what the hell was going on with Cloud. 

~~~

The fifth district was decorated for the season.  Lights and trees and decorations were everywhere.  Christmas music blasted down the street, and created a nice ambiance with the colors reflecting off the snow.  Sora basked in it and was humming along with the music, nearly dancing down the street. Leon, on the other hand, was quite frankly unimpressed.  Especially after a near miss with Sora, who took this Christmas stuff entirely too seriously, and a bough of mistletoe hung up near the district gates.  The casinos lined the streets – extra active given the season – but they were ignored.  The Triple Triad club was almost not.  Leon wasn’t ashamed to admit that he was a little bit addicted to the game.  His cards were always in his pocket because you never knew when you’d be challenged.  And he had the best deck out of everyone he knew. 

The last time he’d gone on a Triple Triad binge, though, Rinoa had been so distraught when she’d come home to find he’d impulse bought that Edea card he’d been wanting with the money she needed to fix her potions fridge.  The card had been returned, and Leon had buried the memory down as deep as possible.  It was a dark time in his life, unlike the joy Triple Triad normally brought him. 

Besides, Cloud would definitely not be in there.  He hated Triple Triad with a passion.  No, if Cloud were spending time in the fifth district, there was only one place he could be.

“Ooooh, chocobo racing!” Sora exclaimed as they approached the tracks.  He was walking now, having the decency not to try and attract too much attention floating around.  Not that it mattered:  the whole town knew about their supernatural population already.  It was hard not to when there was a yearly zombie outbreak to be quelled.  Every February like clockwork.  That didn’t mean everyone necessarily knew who was who.  Except Organization XIII, of course, because they went on TV screaming about zombie rights, but that was different. 

“So you think Cloud’s here?” Sora asked, almost skipping past the crew and to the screen.  The stats flashed up, daring people to bet on them.  Jingle Bells had apparently won the last four races, and Leon wondered if that was seriously the bird’s name, or just a seasonal thing. 

Whether vampires celebrated Christmas or not, Leon sure didn’t. 

“Most likely,” he replied.  It was a little known fact that chocobos were to Cloud what Triple Triad was to Leon.  He loved those birds almost as much as he hated Sephiroth.  In fact, he’d once confessed to Leon, snuggled in bed together in the middle of the day, that he secretly dreamed of one day owning a chocobo farm.  Leon, who held no such affinity for any animal after spending more than enough time as one himself, had looked at him strangely for a week. 

“So, are we going inside?” Sora asked.  He was bouncing with excitement, barely containing his enthusiasm.  Leon stared up at the building, at the glittering lights and the birds plastered everywhere and the crowds milling, and sighed.

“Yeah,” he began, sadly, but cut himself off suddenly.  Out of the corer of his eye he caught a glimpse of blonde spikes and turned.  There, across the street, casually strolling down the side walk without a care in the world, was Cloud.  Leon scowled.  “No,” he corrected to Sora.  “There he is.”

“Awwww,” Sora moaned, staring longingly at the screen.  Leon rolled his eyes and grabbed him by the back of the shirt, pulling the boy along.  He ignored the whispered, “I’ll be back for you, Jingle Bells!”

Across the street now, Leon lifted one hand to cup his mouth, raised his voice, and yelled. “Cloud Strife!?”

Cloud froze, slowly turning his head to glance over his shoulder.  He saw Leon storming down the street towards him, and then did the last think Leon ever expected him to do.  He ran. 

Leon almost didn’t run after him.  The surprise of Cloud literally running from him almost stopped him in his tracks.  Cloud was not this adverse to responsibility!

“Damn it, Cloud!”  Leon took off after him, still gripping onto Sora’s shirt.  Cloud led them on a merry chase, down streets and alleys, sidewalks, past churches – on the other side of the street, of course – from fifth district to fourth to third.  Leon didn’t shout after him – he had too much dignity for that.  Cloud nearly lost them a couple times, too, disappearing into the damn shadows as he could.

“Woah,” Sora said when he saw that, “I didn’t know we could do that.” 

“Because Cloud hasn’t fucking told you anything.”  So Leon was a little bitter.  Just a bit.  Besides, a _holy_ lit up the whole area every time Cloud tried to do that.  Leon was not letting him get away. 

Finally, Cloud stopped and Leon thought he’d finally given up.  But the blonde vampire simply glanced around the empty streets, threw a quick glance back at them, and then giant wing unfurled as he took to the skies. 

That was it.

The gravity spell flung from Leon’s hand into Cloud, causing the vampire to let out an undignified squawk as he came crashing back down to the ground.  When he pulled himself up, it was to Leon standing in front of him looking miffed, arms crossed over his chest in a most disapproving fashion.

“Squall,” Cloud greeted – chill and completely cool like he hadn’t just been running from his boyfriend or abandoned his vampire child on Leon with no word for weeks.

“Cloud,” Leon replied.  Cloud was cool, but Leon was icey.  “Where have you been?”  Cloud shot a glance at Sora, and then shrugged.

“Around,” he replied, purposely vague.  “Was that graviga really necessary?” He cracked his neck.

“Yes.”

They stared at each other at a standoff, neither willing to talk first.  The standoff could have continued indefinitely if not for Sora.  The ever hyper teen peered around Leon and spotted something lying on the ground. 

“Hey, what’s that?” he asked, walking over to pick it up.  Cloud’s glowing blue eyes widened. 

“Wait, no; Sora!”

But it was too late.  The boy had picked it up.  Leon could see it, and it – was a Triple Triad card.  He plucked it out of Sora’s hand.  It was Edea.  It was…

“Why do you have this?” Leon asked, voice faint.  Cloud would protest if accused of pouting, but that’s just what it looked like he was doing here.

“I won it,” he said mulishly.

“But you hate Triple Triad.”

“Yeah; I know.”  Cloud huffed.  And then he glared at Sora. “I thought I told you to keep him distracted.”

Sora shrugged and smiled a bit sheepishly. “I tried.  I think I just annoyed him.”

“Wait – what?” Now Leon was really confused. 

“Well, it was supposed to be a Christmas present for you, but now that’s ruined. So.  Merry Christmas.”

“A-ha!” Sora exclaimed.  “So we do celebrate Christmas?” Cloud looked at him strangely.

“Why wouldn’t we?”

“Well, you know, the whole church thing and – I don’t know how we work.  Am I going to spontaneously combust into flame if I open a Christmas present?”  Sora actually seemed legitimately distraught by the possibility.  Cloud was staring at the boy like he couldn’t comprehend what was being said. 

Leon, though, was staring at Cloud through new eyes.  He didn’t care about any of this. “Sora,” he said, not taking his eye off of Cloud’s face.  “Figure it out tomorrow.  You should go home now.”  He didn’t wait to see if Sora listened, and the next second, he and Cloud were furiously making out.  If Sora thought he’d been too young to see what Tidus and Yuna were doing, he was definitely too young for everything that came next.

The next day, pressed up against each other in the bed in Cloud’s hotel room, Leon turned to his boyfriend.  The Edea card sat propped up on the nightstand. 

“Thanks,” he said.  Cloud shrugged.  “But,” Leon continued, “Don’t ever ditch me with Sora like that again.”

“No promises,” Cloud returned.  Leon scowled, but let it drop.  The Triple Triad card was worth all of this.  He was going to dominate the next competition.  And if two weeks later, Cloud found himself presented with a chocobo egg of his very own on Christmas morning, well.  It was deserved.

And the money Rinoa raked in when they kissed under that mistletoe later that night meant Cloud had more than enough to raise it forever. 

 

 


End file.
